Everyone should have a chance to live in another country. I'm an American who's lived in five countries and am currently living in France with my lovely French wife. This blog is about finding opportunities abroad and the challenges you'll face.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Eurozone to break up?

For those of you considering a move to Europe, be aware that the world financial crisis is still impacting us pretty damned hard. Basically, the PIGS (Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain) are in such financial distress with the global collapse that they're threatening the stability of the Euro currency. That, in turn, threatens the stability of the Eurozone. Italy's problem is now reaching a tipping point and has led to public acknowledgement of talks between Germany and France to break up the Eurozone.

It's simply not possible to guess what's going to happen now. Will the EU break up? No, it's not going to happen. Will it lose a few members? Maybe. Will the Schengen Agreement allowing passport-free travel be revoked? Who knows?

Most importantly: will the ability of EU citizens to effectively live and work anywhere in Europe be curtailed? I expect we're going to see some changes here. Immigration is one the thorniest topics for nations and when the economy gets bad, lots of politicians play the "blame the foreigner" game. Never mind that Europe is still struggling like mad to fill their skilled labor gap; if we don't solve our financial woes, I expect some significant changes around here.